Qatari Authors Café at Qatar University (QU) held its weekly episode under the title “Historical Glimpses of Culture and Arts in Qatar”.
This event was organized by the Department of Culture and Arts in the Student Activities Department at Qatar University in cooperation with the Qatar Authors Forum, well-known artist Dr. Saad Burshid spoke on this subject and she moderated the media symposium Hessa Al-Suwaidi, who presented the lecturer’s biography and part of his artistic and theatrical history and cultural contributions in Qatar.
In a speech on this occasion, Professor Abdullah Hamed Al-Mulla, Director of Student Activities at Qatar University, said: “We at Qatar University are pleased with this distinguished cooperation with the Qatar Authors Forum, which resulted in the establishment of the “Authors Café” cultural platform, which represents a great opportunity for our students and the university community in general. General, to learn about various ideas and opinions, and constructive dialogue in matters of culture, thought, literature and the arts of all kinds.
Al Mulla added, “We were pleased to host the academic and artist Saad Burshid in the second session of the Authors’ Café, where he shed light and provided glimpses of the history of culture and arts in Qatar.”
Burshid spoke about the early days of Qatari culture, which he said dates back to the era of the founder, and it is an extension of the ancient Arab-Islamic culture. The Qatari people are closely linked to their Arab-Islamic culture, and it is a conservative society.
Therefore, culture in Qatar was limited to the arts of poetry and rhetoric. The founder, Sheikh Jassim bin Muhammad Al Thani, was a poet, storyteller and judge who collected all the cultural arts during his reign. Thus, his poetry has often been cited in Qatar during its modern history and until today.
The artist Saad Al-Borshid said: “There are purely Qatari arts, such as: the art of Al-Ardah, which is one of the ancient and inherited folk arts, and the art of Al-Muradah. There are other arts that have been associated with certain environments, such as “Al-Nahma”, where the nahma was associated with the sea, as it is one of the folk arts associated with pearl fishing bearings to ease the difficulties for the sailors and enable them, by repeating it, to carry the heavy weight of the bearings carried by twenty men chanting a single musical sound that helps them bear weights.”
He talked about the emergence of schools and schools in Qatar since the beginning of the twentieth century through the establishment of a religious school established by the ruler of Qatar, and it is the archaeological school that was established in 1913 and was primarily responsible for the ruler himself. One of her most prominent teachers was Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al-Mana, and she was teaching Sharia, Arabic and arithmetic subjects because there was trade between Qatar and India at that time. Then, the Qatar Primary School Al-Hamdiya was founded by the founder’s grandson, but the educational stage did not start until the fifties, when an active educational movement emerged due to Qatar opened up to its Arab surroundings, and cultural and sports clubs appeared with Arab names linked to the Arab liberation movement and the national tide, such as: Al-Uruba Club, Al-Wahda Club, and Al-Tahrir. There was a strong desire of Qatari youth to gain more Arab culture and education and not focus on sports clubs only.
Among the most prominent clubs that were established and had a national resonance in Qatar is the Al-Tale’a Club, which was founded in 1959 and was closed by the occupation authorities in 1961 because of the same Nationalist and his talk about difficult things at the time. The club sought to raise the cultural level in the country, encourage young people to engage in debate culture, practice the arts of theater and social criticism, and educate the population about their rights to work in national companies.
He talked about the brilliant names of diplomats and leaders who contributed to the modern Qatari history. They were among the names of the founders of this important club. The educational and cultural activities in Qatar during the sixties and seventies culminated in great and unlimited support after the independence of Qatar, which we witness today as Qatar has become a cultural and sports beacon to it at the global level.
Source: QATAR UNIVERSITY
